This summer, Daniele Gonano once again took part in the Sun Trip. This is a race, where participants ride solar bikes. It was launched by Florian Bailly in 2013. Our guest took the start with a recumbent solar bike that he made himself. He installed his solar panels above his machine and this rally made him want to leave recently with a friend to cross the Alps to Italy, where he was born.
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One of the highlights of the trip, the stage from Frick (Switzerland) to Bludenz (Austria), ie 171 kilometers at nearly 2,000 meters above sea level. “The weather was fantastic, says Daniele. We have evolved on very beautiful roads. And we had to cross our first ‘real’ pass, at an altitude of 1,150 m at Wildhus, before plunging into the Rhine valley.”
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Another key step: from Inzing in Austria to Aicha in Italy. That is 98 kilometers in 5 hours and 9 minutes. “Shortest but still the hardest stage of the trip with an elevation gain of 1,509 meters, continues the adventurer. We crossed the Brenner Pass (1,200 meters above sea level) but unfortunately our navigator ‘Komoot’ led us on much smaller secondary roads with very steep climbs (12 to 14%). Because of this, I had to push the bike several times because the motor overheated a lot and I couldn’t continue pedaling. It was a very bad experience, sometimes even scary because of the traffic, and when we finally reached the Brenner Pass, I was very relieved”
He then crossed the border with the Italian side, cycle paths “fantastic”. “The long descent to Vipiteno is very pleasant, and we had to stop because of a strong storm.” He was then able to continue to the famous alpine valley of Val Pusteria, most of which is located in South Tyrol, Italy, “and which continues into East Tyrol in Austria to the east. About 90 km long, the valley extends in an east-west direction between Bressanone and Lienz.
>> All about the Sun Trip
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